Premier Colored Pencils

Prismacolor Colored Pencils remain the standard for fine art and illustration applications. These soft, thick lead pencils have been enhanced with a better bonding process that maintains high blendability, smooth laydown and lightfastness.

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We use these pencils in our Montessori classroom with first through third graders. They color beautifully and sharpen easily. The choice of colors is outstanding as well.

Rated by: rob b.in mendham, NJ

The best part about these pencils is the lead is not broken on arrival. These pencils hold up well in shipping and will be long remembered in my house as the pencil that delivered!

Rated by: Shauna B.in Miamisburg, OH

These are the BEST colored pencils ever! I just have to mention a product to use with them that makes them even better! That is Gamsol. It's a low odor type of mineral spirits. There is a booklet and it's on the internet as well as in print called Magic Color Pencil By Deb Gimble. I may have her name a bit wrong but if you google gamsol and prisma or magic color pencil you should be able to find it to download. There is a hardback book with a similar name which is not the gamsol booklet. Anyway, you just blend with the tortillions (artist stumps)dipped in a bit of gamsol and it blends like a dream! Give it a try and I think you'll be very pleased!

Rated by: ANNIE R.in KENNETT SQUARE, PA

I have used Prismacolor pencils in my work for over 30 years and I have several sources for them, but Mister Art prices and their color selection are terrific!I received the pencils I ordered in a few days via regular delivery.

Rated by: JOHN L.in Memphis, TN

These pencils are great. I am trying to decide on a medium and due to the prismacolor quality I am leaning toward colored pencils. One thing I would like from Mister Art is the ability to buy less than a dozen of a color. Local suppliers only stock a few colors and I don't need a dozen Pumpkin Orange.

Rated by: Ryan A.in Rice Lake, WI

We have used these pencils for touch ups on our wood products for years now. They have always been easy to work with and produced excellent results. Layering is easy.

Rated by: Michael S.in Washington, DC

I've been using Prismacolor pencils for over 10 years, doing large, abstract, works on watercolor paper (60x40, 60x20). After initially trying other brands, I found the Prismacolor pencils to be the best in selection of colors and in color saturation. Some colors are softer than others, resulting in the softer colors breaking rather easily when pressing down hard on the pencil. This is very annoying, it's true, but not annoying enough to abandon the brand because the other qualities are so high.
I need to press down rather hard on the pencils in order to get the thick, rich, color they provide. The result is almost indistinguishable from paint, and it's a rare viewer of my work who recognizes, without being told, that the medium is colored pencil.
One other characteristic of these (and perhaps other brands, as well) pencils is wax bloom. Since the pigments in these pencil are suspended in a wax medium, their is a "drying" process that occurs in the thickly applied color. The result is a cloudy film that comes up to the surface of the drawing after a few hours (the intensity of this phenomenon also varies with individual colors, some producing more bloom than others). I generally allow some days of "drying" to pass before using a soft non-abrasive cloth to gently polish the drawing, which removes the wax bloom and restores the colors to their full intensity. This process may need to be repeated, depending on the colors used and the level of blooming that has occurred. To "seal" the finished drawing, I have experimented with various kinds of fixatives: clear acrylic varnish brushed on the drawing, spray fixative (difficult to get full and even coverage on a large, 60x40 piece), and currently, a thin layer of brushed on acrylic gel medium, diluted with water, and which seems to work well in arresting the wax bloom.
These are the best pencils I've used, and with a little experience, you can get great results.

Rated by: John O.in New York, NY

I use Prismacolor exclusively for large and small works on paper. They are the best colored pencils for softness and color saturation. Sometimes, though, they can break rather easily. Overall, a great colored pencil.

Rated by: Maureen M.in Edgewater, MD

These are the only type of color pencils I have ever used. They seem to break very easily when sharpening even when I am using the lightest touch.

Rated by: John S.in Harrisburg, PA

I enjoy using the Prismacolored Pencils for my racing art original prints. The color match spectrum is fabulous and the quality and color brilliance is unmatched.

Rated by: Erica H.in Columbus, OH

Great, googly, moogly! An old reliable that can't be improved upon. I've looked into pencils that are more expensive, and have better packaging, but this doll baby keeps me coming back for more. I heart these pencils!

Rated by: Rebekah W.in Colorado Springs, CO

I got introduced to Prismacolors back in 7th grade. After a decade of breaking my bank on these high quality pencils, I now have an indespensible source in Mr. Art not to only save money, but to buy those hard-to-find colors. I've never been more excited about illustration!

Rated by: Pamela J.in St. Paul, MN

We use the Prismacolor Colored Pencils for our take-off of prints for estimating and material orders. These are the pencils that are requested because the leads do not break as easy as others and the choice of colors is a plus. We sought out MiserArt.com as a supplier so that we can buy these pencils by the dozens.

Rated by: DeAnn M.in Ouray, CO

I've been doing colored pencil art for several years and have tried nearly all the pencils available. By far my favorite brand is Prismacolor. It's a soft lead that goes on easily and blends beautifully for a finished "oil" look. The colorless blender is a must. I also teach colored penicl techniques and recommend Prismacolor to my students. This is the only website I've found where I can buy the pencils in bulk. It's so convenient to be able to buy each color by the dozen, because I live in a mountain resort community and the nearest store that sells Prismacolor by the piece is 100 miles away. I buy the pencils in bulk and sell them by the piece to my students. I also use many colors that are not included in the sets so it's absolutely necessary for me to be able to buy this way. My shipments have always come within just a few days, and there aren't better prices anywhere on the web.

Rated by: Patricia D.in Sacramento, CA

I love Prismacolor Pencils. I have been using them for years. They are so smooth and give such good coverage, and you can layer that color until it looks like paint. My teenage grandaughter has also become spoiled with these, and now I have to replace them twice as often as she uses them for her art drawings and for coloring in the Dover Fashion color books which I buy on this site.

Rated by: Asia E.in anaheim, CA

These are amazing, I was so used to drawing with roseart pencils, but when I purchased these I was simply amazed at the smoothness and their ability to draw on top of other colors. Its like painting with pencils!

Rated by: Amy H.in College Station, TX

Though I haven't sharpened mine yet, I've used them before. The are good quality pencils that work well with Chartpak markers for color rendering of landscapes. The price was good & the shipping was fast. Perfect for a poor, late grad student.

Rated by: Bill D.in Los Angeles, CA

Prismacolor pencils are used by every professional portrait artist I know. They are also the choice of nearly every artist writing books or creating instructional videos on colored pencils. They have smooth lay down, excellent translucency for color blending, and a wider range of colors. Plus, for fine art on archival-quality papers, their color-fastness cannot be beat and Sanford is continuously improving them. The main drawback to these excellent pencils is (and this is true of all wax-based pencils) the potential for wax bloom. Fortunately, this is easily corrected by rubbing the painting lightly with cheese cloth. Also, the colorless blender pencil is not very useful. I have found that using their white pencil works much better for blending colors.
Be warned, however, if you are the impatient type who does not like layering a half dozen (usually more) colors to get extremely rich, painterly tones in your paintings, these pencils will not reach their full potential for you.

Rated by: Sarah S.in West Carrollton, OH

Great starter pencil for students. The color blends well making it very easy to learn basic techniques. My only complaint is that they tend to be a bit soft so they lose their point fairly quickly. But overall they are definately a must for any art student.

Rated by: Phyllis M.in Englewood, CO

Not only do I use Prismacolor pencils for my colored pencil illustrations of portraits, lions, tigers and bears, oh my!, I also teach seniors how-to draw with them making them a painterly technique that has them wanting more. If any of you artists have taught art, teaching seniors is the absolute best. They are not full of themselves and hang on to every syllabele. That is why I encourage them to by the best of colored pencils for their overall adaptabilty. I know when I give them the name of Prismacolor to use, I'm confident they will feel the same way as I do.

Rated by: Bryan S.in Muskegon, MI

I have been using Prismacolors for nearly 20 years now I have never been diappointed in their performance. I have tried other mediums before and have gone back to the pencils every time.

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